Various types of equipment have been used for testing the physical properties of objects such as golf balls. One type of equipment employs a mechanical device that is programmed to swing a golf club in a repeated pattern to drive balls from a fixed tee position in order to test for travel distances of the balls. Other types of equipment use a propelling mechanism to launch a ball through a predetermined path, along which sensors are provided for recording the flight of the ball.
One such device employs a barrel into which a golf ball can be mounted via a hinged cover in the side of the barrel. This type of device uses a sealing ring within the bore of the barrel to hold the ball in position. After closing the hinged cover, a pneumatic charge is delivered to the barrel so as to push the ball through the sealing ring, and out of the barrel, at a high speed. However, this type of mechanism is not able to consistently launch balls at a given velocity. This is typically due to the fact that the threshold for passing the ball through the sealing ring varies for each ball being fired. Typically, this causes inconsistency. Because the sealing ring causes an inconsistency in the velocity of the ball, it becomes difficult to adjust the velocity of the ball to test at different speeds. When testing velocity dependant physical characteristics, such as Coefficient of Restitution, this is often desirable.
When measuring the characteristics of a ball, it is desirable to propel the ball at a known and consistent velocity. This can be important when measuring many ball characteristics, such as coefficient of restitution, durability, or compressive stiffness. Specifically, when testing coefficient of restitution, it is particularly important to be able to propel a set of balls at a consistent velocity.
Current devices have many other drawbacks. These devices are typically bulky, and require many components. In addition, the devices typically require balls to be manually fed and recovered, resulting in significant downtime and increased operator time. Additionally, current devices do not provide a reliable apparatus or method for testing at different ball velocities. Furthermore, existing devices do not conveniently allow for the testing of differently sized balls.
A continuing need exists for an apparatus for accurately testing the physical properties of golf balls while minimizing the time and number of components required.